Monday, March 26, 2012

All of the character designs used in the film are Jeaux's, too! He makes a brief cameo. Can you spot him? I remember it was just a year ago when we were on set. You can also see me, with long hair, looking at some art. I am a method actor, naturally.

Here we are at the Downtown Independent for the LA Premiere. It was such an honor to be a part of this experience.

I am trying to emulate Diane Keaton, with my men's wear (sans hat). We are holding up the limited edition poster Jeaux created especially for the evening. Click on the image to enlarge (there's lots of cool details).

The gorgeous, Mary Kate Wiles. She is the film's leading lady, and such a sweetheart. I was really impressed by her performance. It's funny, because we always run into each other when I'm working and in uniform. It was nice to see her on my day off, looking fancy.

If you are in the pacific north west, I highly recommend a viewing. It is truly a beautiful film.

pssssst............not to give anything away, but there is a TWIST. Not the kind of M. Night "he was a ghost this WHOLE time" hooey, although admittedly, so RAD upon insight. I do love a good twist, don't you?

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

I recently told someone that I didn't want to be a photographer. In my heart, I knew that wasn't entirely true. I'm not certain I can make it my career, but I know that I want to enjoy taking pictures again.

This was taken as a study for how I want to photograph this house. I love how the light hits the structure at a certain time, and the soft colors. That classic brick fire place makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I may go back one of these beautiful spring days and capture it again, using film.

Monday, March 19, 2012

This was last Thursday, after the screening of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards. Bakshi is one of Jeaux's biggest influences, and this was to celebrate the film's 35th anniversary release (and Jeaux's birthday). There were so many people gathered around the now, 73 year old. Until dating a cartoonist, I had no idea the magnitude of Bakshi's influence. Jeaux introduced me to Fritz the Cat not too long ago. When Jeaux was a little boy, his mom rented Fritz not knowing that it was x-rated. He thought that the animals were just tickling each other.

We took these images in this crazy rubber/rope installation. It kind of looks like we are in some sort of golden space forest, or at a rave. Tried to find the artist's name on the lacma website, but no luck.

W O N D E R C O N

This was Jeaux's real birthday (St. Patrick's Day). We were in Anaheim, and so close to Disneyland. Such a tease to drive away from the happiest place on earth, but comic book conventions are fun, too. In the photo below, I was pretty cranky. It wasn't raining anymore, but we had been walking around a great deal and the crowds were starting to get to me. It was good to get some fresh air.

Trying not to look annoyed. Hey, look at the cosplayers behind us!

This is Jeaux and Peter Mayhew, aka Chewbacca! Such a gentle giant. I really wish I would have captured his hands in the photo. They are gigantic! It was a sobering experience for me, meeting icons from my childhood. I almost cried when seeing Mr. Mayhew, an old man now. I remembered how much I loved Star Wars growing up. Also, he is sporting my favorite Star Wars film on his sweatshirt. We think alike, Peter and I.

the brothers janovsky

Seeing Wizards for a second time was well worth it for me. I appreciated it much, much more. Maybe because I got to see the original pen and ink backgrounds. They were so striking, with a lot of detail. There was so much texture and depth, and it was lovely seeing them restored. The scenes looked so crisp and brand new.

The C O L O R S were insane! After the screening, Bakshi spoke and Jeaux did an illustration.

LOOK! Signed by the amazing Ralph Bakshi!

After the q & a, I knew Jeaux would be nervous to meet the man. I decided to head over, without hesitation. Jeaux followed and to my surprise, Wondercon was quite the mellow experience compared to Lacma. Most of the fans had left and it was just us along with Bakshi's son's and grandkids. Bakshi is such a New Yorker in the best way. Really punchy and to the point. He is also fearless, which is a great quality. It was wonderful to see Jeaux so happy, like he had just met Santa Claus! A while back, Jeaux was interviewed about his idol here. He's done some lovely tribute drawings of Ralph that you can see here.

As for my experience talking to Ralph, I can say that we both really like polaroid film. I caught myself geeking out with Mr. Bakshi about my fuji instax, and we talked about how much we miss the square polaroids of yesteryear.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Last Thursday morning, I did a terribly crazy thing and woke up at 4am. Why, you ask? Press play.

I made it to the Americana at Brand around 6 in the morning, wearing my favorite plaid trench and some comfortable oxfords. I was ready to dawn the long lines and hopefully snag that whimsical flower necklace (honestly, the only piece in the collection I was coveting).

When I reached Glendale, I anticipated lines around the building. As I drove past, no lines in front of the store. I parked and walked over. I perked up when I saw the window display. The shop girl was sprucing it up and glanced up at me with the most annoyed look on her face. Again, no lines. Odd and much too good to be true. I was going to walk around and do some window shopping, when at the corner of my eye, there it was....the line. Some people looked like they camped out, with sleeping bags, a mattress...a lot of people were still wearing pajamas. I walked passed and checked out my competition. I was glad to see that I wasn't that far behind (maybe 100 people in). I snapped some polaroids, C O M I N G S O O N, and made some friends.

Jennifer, and I didn't catch the other woman's name, but I do know that she works at the Atwater Village farmer's market and sells soap? ? As we got to the front of the line and could see people leaving with bags and bags full of stuff, we felt a little defeated. This lady came out wearing a leopard print coat and little dainty heels. Her man was with her, in sweats and a baseball cap, carrying all her goodies. The peanut gallery was in full effect at that moment, and my new friends made me laugh with the commentary. There was so much hype for this collection, as there should be, yet that just elevated everything to the worst level. When it was finally our time (around 9:30am), I was part of a group of 30 that was able to enter the store. They only gave us 15 minutes to shop, and I had forgotten what my game plan was. Well, frankly, I didn't really have a game plan. They also distract you with music, L O U D music. Then this guy on a megaphone tells people when their time is up.

"Only 5 seconds remaining ! ! !"

So much pressure.

My worst nightmares came true when I saw that there were no accessories in sight. Just one necklace, similar to the one I wanted, on display. The display area was off limits. What a tease.

When I finally got to enter the section, women started to push their way through, and by that point I felt so unmotivated to grab anything. It was a madhouse of cat fights, and grabby hands, and size 0s, and unlined parkas, with nothing left for me. I had a chance to grab one of the tee shirts, but when I saw it up close, I felt underwhelmed.

"meh" became my reaction for that morning. I don't know if any collection is worth this kind of agony. I know that I need to spend at least two hours in a store, and that excludes trying things on (add 20 minutes, maybe).

You can find photos of the collection and the extended commercial by Sofia Coppola here. Also on ebay, most likely.